Comet Lovejoy 8 Jan 15 4 panel mosaic

[gregbradley]

Taken last night between clouds!

http://upload.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/158751342/large


Greg.

[pluto]

Very nice Greg! :D

[blink138]

gordon bennett!................ spectacular mate!!
pat

[RichardJ]

Fabulous image Greg,
Well done!!

RichardJ

[gregbradley]

Cheers Hugh.



Thanks very much Pat.



Thanks Richard. It makes braving the mossies worth it.

Greg.

[cometcatcher]

Beautiful tail detail.

[gregbradley]

Thanks Kevin. This comet is now starting to put on a show.
It must be close to its peak around now.

Greg.

[cometcatcher]

Yes for us in the southern hemisphere it is. We're just past close approach now. But it gets better for those in the north. Perihelion is at the end of the month (around the time I lose it) as it drifts north.

[batema]

Beautiful mosaic Greg. Lovely detail.

Mark.

[gregbradley]

Thanks. We should still have some excellent imaging opportunities then over the next few weeks before it goes then.



Thanks Mark.

[multiweb]

Very cool. What kind of exposure time and camera did you use?

[Peter Ward]

Ditto. Cool. :thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

ok its way too cool - but it has that ring of confidence like the Colgate ad ;)

1000% better than anything i could do

[dvj]

Neat! I think you can stretch the data a little more too! We're buried under clouds in Coona and in California, so no comet for me. :sadeyes:

j

[gregbradley]

3 minutes,FLI Proline 16803 CDK17 F4.45.



Thanks Peter.



That's funny David!



I probably could stretch it harder. Some subs were a bit noisy. I think it was some high thin cloud at some point.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Great B&W image of this comet Greg! Nice work

Mike

[gregbradley]

Thanks Mike.

If the weather clears up I'll do another one. Perhaps in colour too if I can get my filter wheel to connect in the meantime!

Greg.

[gaa_ian]

Awesome image Greg. It really gives the impression of the Comet receding from as at Phenomenal speed.

[RickS]

Great catch, Greg. The detail in the tail is spectacular.

Cheers,
Rick.

[multiweb]

Did you guide on the stars or on the comet? It moves really fast, even on 30s exposures. I would expect the tail to blur quite a bit on 180s. :question:

[gregbradley]

Thanks Ian.



Cheers Rick.



On the stars.

Greg.

[Regulus]

Great photo Greg; excellent detail.
I am fascinated by the movements within the tail of comets given what I presume is an environment free of turbulence.
Or does the 'rock' create a turbulance in the immediate environment in the solar wind? Or is it an electrical phenomena? :shrug:
Must head over to the Comet Watch FB page and ask.
Anyhoo, another cracker of an image mate.
Trev

[BigJohn]

fantastic..

[gregbradley]

Thanks Trev. I suppose there could be a few factors that create that uneven tail. Perhaps the comet is rotating. I imagine its a very uneven surface as well. Perhaps the surface varies in composition. All of these factors would make it uneven.




Thanks John.

Greg.

[multiweb]

Cool - I was a little worried about subs duration but will definitely give it a crack next week under dark skies with a cooled CCD.

[gregbradley]

I tried a few sub lengths. 2 minutes would be minimum to get enough signal, 3 minutes starts to show the core slightly elongated which becomes noticeable at 5 minutes.

Greg.

[colinmlegg]

Nice one, Greg :) .. Not sure if you know, but this was the start of a major disconnection event - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX3nf53sNu0

[Star Catcher]

Very nice image indeed Greg!
Ted

[gregbradley]

Amazing. I suppose every now and then a big chunk breaks off.



Thanks Ted. If the weather clears this week I'll attempt some more images of it.

Greg.

[multiweb]

Thanks for the info. I'll try that. Planning on OSC at prime on FSQ and Mono with 200mm piggy back.

[John K]

That's one great image Greg!

Something about comets in BW that makes them look even better sometimes than in colour.

Perhaps is makes us all reminisce about images from BW photography days and comets.

[Regulus]

I asked about Disconnects on the Comet Watch FB forum and this was one of the referrals. It's NASA Space Science and shows a CME removing the tail of Comet Enke on April 20, 2007 from the STEREO-A probe. There are 7MB AVI and a 1MB animated GIF links under the static picture.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/01oct_encke/

[gregbradley]

Thanks John.



That sounds like a badass combo!



Thanks for that link.

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Cool detail Greg and a nice field of view.

[gregbradley]

Thanks Paul. I'd like to have another go when the weather finally clears again.

Greg.

[Ross G]

A great looking photo Greg.

One of the best I have seen of this comet.

Ross.

[gregbradley]

Thanks Ross.

I took an 8 image mosaic last night plus a 2 panel longer exposure mosaic.

I'll be taking more tonight. Probably with a lens as the tail is now too long for scopes.

Greg.